Done brothers revealed as highest UK taxpayers in 2025
The Sunday Times Tax List shows Betfred founders Fred and Peter Done shelled out £400m in tax last year, with bet365’s Coates family rounding out the top five
Fred and Peter Done, founders and owners of retail and online operator Betfred, were the highest taxpayers in the UK in 2025, new analysis has revealed.
According to The Sunday Times Tax List, the Done family shelled out £400.1m in taxes last year, putting them top of the publication’s annual ranking.
The Sunday Times Tax List factors in dividend tax, corporation tax, income tax, capital gains tax and payroll taxes as well as gambling and alcohol duties and bases its findings on the most recently filed company accounts up to 10 January 2026.
The Done brothers climbed to the top of this year’s list, having come in second in the publication’s 2025 edition.
Earlier this year, Betfred reported post-tax profits of £128.8m for the 78-week period ending 30 March 2025, marking a drastic increase on the £71.7m post-tax loss from its previous report.
The Companies House filings showed revenue for the period amounted to £1.5bn, with £563.6m coming from online.
The Sunday Times said: “Betfred accounted for the bulk of the Dones’ £400.1m contribution — a sum equivalent to nearly £1.1m a day.
“Their high street chain paid nearly £200m of gambling duty in 2024-25. It also stumped up £14m of business rates.
“A separate company, Peninsula, which provides human resources and legal support to small firms, paid £36.6m in corporation tax and employers’ national insurance.”
Meanwhile, bet365 owners Denise, John and Peter Coates came in fifth in the rankings, paying £227.1m in taxes last year.
The Coates family had come in third in last year’s list. They also ranked 16th in The Sunday Times Rich List for 2025, with estimated worth of £9.4bn.
Fred and Peter Done ranked 57th on the same list, with their net worth estimated to be £2.9bn.
Companies House filings showed bet365 reported revenue of £4bn for the 52 weeks up to 30 March 2025, representing a 9% increase year on year.
The Stoke-on-Trent-based operator, which pulled out of China last year, enjoyed growth in sports betting and gaming, with each vertical increasing 5% and 25% year on year respectively.
The Done family and Coates family were separated on the list by traders Alex Gerko and Chris Rokos, who came in second and third, respectively.
Stephen Rubin and family, owners of JD Sports majority shareholders Pentland Group, came in fourth in the rankings.
The publication also noted that more than 10% of all tax identified was attributable to the gambling industry.
The figure could rise even further in next year’s edition of the Tax List, following the increases to gambling taxes announced during the Autumn Budget in November.
Remote gaming duty is set to rise from 21% to 40% in April 2026, with remote betting duty (excluding horseracing) set to follow suit 12 months later, increasing from 15% to 25%.
Fred Done had previously warned that the operator might be forced to close its retail locations if tax increases in the UK proved to be too steep.